Irish Shanties: Why Are They a Thing?

The TikTok that started the rise in popularity of sea shanties

Photo Credit: Nathan Evans

Over the past couple of weeks, Irish sea shanties have exploded on TikTok and are now being introduced into today's popular culture.  The phenomenon started with Nathan Evans' tribute to the New Zealand folk song, "The Wellerman" on his TikTok account.  On the weekend of January 16th, #seashanties was the trending hashtag on TikTok. 

Long before social media, Irish shanties have been around since the at least the mid 15th century. This music was not made to be complex or difficult to sing along.  But rather, these songs were made to be easy to sing along with while performing difficult tasks.  Sea shanties would help time go by with strenuous tasks at sea and made to raise the sailor's morale.

There are many theories to why sea shanties have exploded in popularity on TikTok now, centuries after their heyday, but in reality it's a combination of several factors.  For one, everyone can participate in a shanty. Typically the songs are catchy and easy to remember. Most can sing along with a sea shanty after hearing it only once.

This isn't some complex song where you must sing a complicated harmony to accompany others. However, this can be part of the fun on TikTok, as some haven taken to combining harmonies from other artists.  People are still missing out on everyday life during the pandemic, and the public needs something to get behind. Sea shanties were brought to the spotlight and provide a new style of music that many haven't heard before.  There are 4.6 billion views spread across countless videos with the hashtag #seashanty. 

Since the start of the explosion of sea shanties, Nathan Evans, the man who started the trend with his post on December 27, has had his life turned upside down.  He's an everyday guy that lives in Scotland and works a postman before Christmas.  However, like most aspiring artists, Evans is talented with his ability to sing and learns instruments.  Since the posting of his viral TikTok, Evans has now signed a 3 album record deal and has been interviewed by publications like Rolling Stone and BBC News.

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag was also know for their use of sea shanties while sailing

Photo Credit: Ubisoft

Beyond Nathan Evans, sea shanties have also been brought to the limelight by other artists.  Popular artists like Andrew Lloyd Webber has played along with Nathan Evans in a duet with his TikTok.  Several schools have learned shanties for their choir classes, and radio stations in even Germany have played the Tiktok.  People like Steven Colbert has now brought shanties to people's attention by singing shanties on air and even went as far as saying that "2021 is the year for sea shanties." 

Even Hank Green, from Crash Course, took his own take on "The Wellerman" by providing an explanation for every lyric and what it means.

For his original TikTok, Evans filmed it in his room at a relatives house where he's living with his wife in order to save money.  Today, Evans is now house hunting with his wife since he can now afford to buy a house with his wife.  Evans has also been able to quit his job as a postman and focus all of his efforts on music writing with his new record deal. 

As for how sea shanties have affected students at Moeller, I spoke with Mr. Balbach with regards to sea shanties and if the Moeller choir would do a sea shanty.  Balbach's response was one of complete assurance that the Moeller choir has the ability to do shanties like "The Wellerman" and even "Drunken Sailor" for the vocal ensemble. 

Will sea shanties be the next internet fad that comes and goes quickly? Will it go the way of Ken Bone and the ice bucket challenge? Or will it continue to gain traction on TikTok like "Hi welcome to Chili's" and "It's Wednesday my dudes."  "The Wellerman" has been on the top viral playlist for the past month and it's up to time to tell if it will continue.